Stay current with legal news in Tennessee. This page features the latest news for and about the Tennessee legal community, either produced by the Tennessee Bar Association or collected from news sources.
Hawkins County commissioners have appointed attorney Carroll Chris Raines to replace General Sessions Judge James “Jay” Taylor, who resigned May 1 after being charged with misconduct by the Court of the Judiciary. Raines prevailed over attorney John Anderson. He will hold the seat until county residents vote in the Aug. 2 general election. In that race Republican J. Todd Ross faces Democrat Terry Risner. Last July, commissioners appointed Taylor following the death of Judge David Brand. The Citizen Tribune has more
The Jackson-Madison County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division will host "Pour Your Heart Out for CASA" tomorrow, May 24, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Charlie Bulldog's in downtown Jackson to benefit Madison County CASA. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Admission includes appetizers and various types of wine to sample. Contact YLD President Terica Smith at (731) 426-1337 or terica@wtls.org for more information or to buy tickets.
Jamie B. Kidd has been named assistant director for Law School Administration at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Her responsibilities will include matters concerning human resources, accreditation, budgeting, academic regulations and other administration-related projects. A native of Huntsville, Ala., Kidd graduated from the law school in 2011. While a student, she served as chief justice of the Moot Court Board and as a member of the Law Review. The law school announced the hiring this week.
The Nashville Bar Association (NBA) will hold its spring memorial service tomorrow, May 24, at 11 a.m. in the Downtown Presbyterian Church. Chancellor Russell Perkins will preside and a reception at the church will follow. Attorneys to be memorialized are: Judge Elmer Davies, Marilyn Devine, James (Jim) Hill, Hugh Howser, Alfred Knight III, Harold Levinson, James Meyer, John Roberts, Judge Leon Ruben, Robert (Bob) Sullivan and Sonny West. Beginning this year, the NBA will hold two memorial services per year -– one in May and one in November. The services honor the memory of Nashville lawyers and judges who have passed away during the preceding period. Learn more on the bar's website
The 2nd Annual TBA Diversity Job Fair is set for Sept. 7-8 in Nashville. Building on the success of last year’s event, this year’s job fair will provide legal employers the opportunity to interview diverse 2L and 3L law students from law schools in Tennessee and surrounding states. More than 25 schools have already signed up. All legal employers in Tennessee are invited to take part, regardless of size or sector. Participants are asked to consider candidates for summer associate positions, clerkships and associate attorney openings.
Former U.S. Sen. Joseph Tydings, D-Maryland, wrote the Horse Protection Act when he served in the U.S. Senate from 1965 to 1971. With little funding, however, the act has not been widely enforced, as the Tennessean reports. Tydings said he hopes things are finally about to change, not only because of the release last week of undercover video showing soring and other abuses, but also because of federal prosecutors’ willingness to pursue violations of the act. Bill Killian, U.S. attorney for East Tennessee, and Jerry E. Martin, U.S. attorney for Middle Tennessee, are supportive. “If we get wind of soring, we are going to vigorously pursue the case," says Martin. Today in Chattanooga, Jackie L. McConnell, the horse trainer featured in the video, pleaded guilty to violating the act. He could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Neff said, but prosecutors are recommending probation.
Federal judges in the western U.S. circuit are catching flak from Congress for a meeting in Maui that could cost taxpayers more than $1 million, Fox News reports.
Davidson County Probate Court Judge Randy Kennedy indicated Monday that he may be willing to open at least portions of a conservatorship case involving actress Reese Witherspoon’s father. Kennedy set a June 1 hearing for arguments from the Tennessean and WSMV-Channel 4, which are both seeking to have the case opened to the public. On May 11 Kennedy ejected the news media from court and ruled that all files and proceedings involving Witherspoon would be closed to the public as his daughter sought to have him placed under a conservator. In an editorial, the Tennessean says the public's right to know is more important than privacy, and closing the proceedings was "an attempt to skirt the First Amendment."
In an editorial, the News Sentinel says that recent events regarding former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner are "positive steps for the integrity of the Knox County judicial system." The first step was when the state Supreme Court on May 15 released an order signaling its possible willingness to review three overturned murder convictions from Baumgartner's court stemming from a brutal double murder. The second step was when, on the same day, Baumgarter was arrested and arraigned in federal court on seven counts of failing to report felonious acts. "We are confident that justice, in the end, will be served," the paper says.
Two members of a sequestered jury -- a pediatrician and a nurse -- and the deputies escorting them saved a 6-year-old girl from drowing in a hotel pool last week in Memphis. Hearing screams for help from the girl's aunt, the jurors, Dr. Jara Best and Sheila Dalrymple, ran to help the girl who was floating face-down in the water. Deputy Amy Chaffin called for back-up, while another deputy escorted the rest of the jury members to their rooms. The little girl was transported to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in critical condition, but recovered quickly and was released on Sunday. WREG has the story
A former law student has won a bid in bankruptcy court to discharge nearly $340,000 in education debt because her diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome rendered her unable to repay the loans. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland last week found that Carol Todd, who attended the University of Baltimore School of Law, met the difficult burden of showing that she would suffer undue hardship if forced to repay her debt. Read about it in the National Law Journal
Award, won for 2nd year in a row, recognizes program for new lawyers
NASHVILLE, May 22, 2012 -- The Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) won a Rich Media Impact Award last week for using technology to help new law school graduates find work during the recession. The award, given by Sonic Foundry -- a video management platform for academic, enterprise and event webcasting -- recognizes outstanding achievement in using rich media to improve awareness, education and outreach.
Greene County General Sessions court moved back a scheduled appearance by Rep. David Hawk to July 16 in a domestic assault case filed by his wife. The Greeneville Republican lawmaker had been scheduled to appear today. The five-term representative pleaded not guilty a day after the charge was filed March 18. The News Sentinel has more
Politico has a story on four former politicians who left office after each had "a dramatic press conference, a shame-filled public apology, a tearful spouse and the end of a promising political career." One is former Tennessee state Sen. Paul Stanley, who resigned in 2009 after news of an affair with his 22-year-old intern broke. Among his advice now is not to be alone "with someone of the opposite sex after 5 p.m. or after business hours. There's nothing good that can come of it."
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., wants to make it "absolutely clear" that the Lacey Act was not intended to seize instruments made of wood harvested before 2008. "I don’t want the musicians from Nashville who are flying to Canada to perform this summer to worry about the government seizing their guitars," he said, adding that he hopes to get a clear ruling from the Justice Department in a few weeks. If not, he says he'll introduce legislation to change the Lacey Act. Read more in the Chattanoogan
Chattanooga lawyer Lee Davis writes about a 6th Circuit case, United States v. David Earl Doyle, that concerns whether a defendant’s prior conviction for evading arrest is a “violent felony” for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). Read his column in the Chattanoogan
The American Legion Boys' State program began this weekend at Tennessee Tech University, and for the eighth year features the SCALES program (Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students), during which the Tennessee Supreme Court will hold a special session to hear oral arguments in two cases. Gov. Bill Haslam was also scheduled to speak to the group. Judge John J. Maddux Jr. has overseen the program as Tennessee Boys' State chairperson for almost three decades. The Herald-Citizen has the story
The Tennessee Supreme Court is now accepting comments regarding the Administrative Office of the Courts' proposal that expands and updates the provisions of Supreme Court Rule 42. Rule 42 governs the appointment and compensation of court interpreters and translators in this state. Read the proposed amendments and submit a comment by June 15 at the Administrative Office of the Court web site
The U.S. Supreme Court says interpretation and translation are not the same thing when it comes to paying fees associated with federal civil lawsuits. The high court ruled today that Kan Pacific Saipan Ltd. did not deserve compensation for interpreters for fighting off a lawsuit from a Japanese professional baseball player. The company argued that translating written documents was the same as "compensation of interpreters," which can be charged to losing parties, but the court disagreed. TriCities.com has this AP story
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that a man's children who were conceived through artificial insemination after his death cannot get Social Security survivor benefits. Justices unanimously ruled that twins born to Robert Capato's surviving wife Karen did not qualify for survivor benefits because of a requirement that the federal government use state inheritance laws. Capato died a Florida resident, and Florida law expressly bars children conceived posthumously from inheritance, unless they are named in a will. NPR has this analysis
